Stock receptacle



Patented Jan. 2, 1934 PATENT OFFICE STOCK RECEPTACLE Matthew E. Hill, Atlanta, Ga., assignor to The Holfast Rubber Company, Atlanta, 6a., a corporation of Georgia Application September 30, 1930 Serial No. 485,480

6 Claims.

This invention relates to stock receptacles such as drawer cabinets, shelves or the like for merchandising various articles, and particularly automobile fan belts which are commonly supplied in one or more types, such as V-shaped and flat, and in a large number of sizes.

My principal objects are to facilitate the storing and dispensing of these articles, and more particularly fan belts, by retail dealers and others, to enable the dealer to keep on hand a reasonably complete stock without overstocking, to rotate his stock by frequent replacements of the articles in each of the sizes so as to minimize the amount of deterioration due to aging of the articles in storage, and to enable him to maintain a running inventory of his merchandise without an expensive stock-listing and bookkeeping system.

There is little uniformity of practice among automobile manufacturers as to the dimensions of the fan belts used on the several cars and even the same make or model of car will sometimes require a diiferent size belt in different years. Since the belts wear out and have to be renewed and it is often impossible for the car owner to find an agent for his particular make and model of car who can furnish the desired size and type of belt at the time and place required, retail merchandisers of automobile parts who can furnish practically all of the sizes of fan belts to fit the various cars are performing an important function in serving the requirements of the motoring public. By designing a line of replacement fan belts so that each size'in the majority of cases can be used on a number of different models of cars, it is possible at the present time for the belt manufacturer to furnish practically a complete line with from '70 to 150 sizes, depending upon how close he wants to make the fit and how many unimportant sizes he omits. However, under the methods heretofore employed by the retailer in stocking these goods, which have involved storing the belts on hooks or more or less heterogeneously in bins, cabinet drawers or on shelves, without adequate provision for readily determining the various sizes required and on hand, it has been practically impossible for the dealer to avoid understocking or overstocking and to furnish his customers with a prompt and complete service of reasonably fresh goods. The tendency is to have on hand too many of the slower moving sizes in an eifort to furnish complete service so that an unnecessarily large amount of capital is required to run this department of the business, customers are often furnished with goods which have deteriorated from age and the service furnished is not as speedy as it might be.

My present invention, in a simple but very effective manner, furnishes a solution for these merchandising problems, and for the first time, so far as I am aware, provides the retailer with a merchandising device whereby he can furnish just as complete a fan belt service as he may desire, maintain an automatic inventory of goods practically without the necessity for listing or bookkeeping except when ordering replacements from the manufacturer, and with the smallest possible liability of accumulating an overstock of goods.

, Of the accompanying drawing,

Fig. 1 is a front elevation showing one drawer and adjacent portions of a cabinet adapted to contain an embodiment of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view showing the partially filled drawer and contents embodying my invention.

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a plan view showing an example of the belt labels.

Referring to the drawing, 10 is a cabinet adapted to contain one or more sliding drawers or magazines for storing a collection of endless fan belts 12, 12 in accordance with the present invention, in this case narrow belts of V section which, as is customary, are held in the form of an elongated loop by a pasteboard wrapper or sleeve 13 into which the'belt is slipped, or in some cases by a pasteboard carton. The interior of each drawer is accessible for vision and for inserting and removing the articles from the top.

A baseboard 14 is provided, extending lengthwise from front to rear of the drawer 11, substantially midway of the width of said drawer, and. on this are mounted a series of separators 15 dividing the drawer space into a series of belt-holding compartments. Each of the separators 15 may conveniently be made of a stout piece of steel wire first bent into three-sided rectangular form, then passed through holes 16 in the board and then bent over horizontally inward at its ends 1'7 as indicated in Fig. 3, said ends occupying a groove 18 formed in the underside of the board 14 and being held against vertical movement between the top wall of said groove and the bottom wall 19 of the drawer.

The bottom 19 and side walls 20 of the drawer may conveniently be made of a single piece of sheet metal, such as galvanized iron, bent to shape fastening 24 by which the drawer pull-knob 2-5 I is detachably secured to the front wall 21.

The board 14 and separators l5 constitute'a multiple belt rack whose length orfore-and: aft dimension is substantially the same as that of the interior of the drawer, but whgsewidth is considerably less than the width 'of said interior, leaving free spaces on either side into which the belts project, so that one end of the looped belt can readily be grasped for the purpose of inserting it in or removing it from the rack.

he limaker eu emer lr n. he wra pei e' lt e a l stintive nu be e 5 her ieel eiu es nat n er iden ify each size of belt, the numbers having heretoeen placed on the sides of the wrappers or cartons, and furnishes his dealers withprinted lists showing the various belt sizes for the several makes and models of cars and the corree' a to -i num er e desi na er e belt size. When the dealer is called upon to secret xist nce with a b t he fir t ref r to h e le fu n shed b his l m k n a scertains the factory size number of the belt recommended. Then he goes to his stock for the belt in question.

M n eetien n es numbe n or therw d v al des n t n th d fi nt be t s zes but 01} th ed e nst a the id Of th Wra pe i to in tead i e in .1 Q Q .1 m kin QQQQQ UQQ wi h th p f' l l 5? o catalog, I also apply these same markings or indicia t he sev rel elte din QQ PQY Q W in the drawer 11 or other storage receptacle. I f fill?! Pl e thes eem e mee ma k n s in such a position that when a belt bearing a cerre number is i la e he mpa ment nu ber identifying that belt will be concealed by the belt, and when the belt is removed from its c pa m t a umber w l p ea a ee ispicuous location, such as the bottom of the compartment, and will show at a glance which particular number has been sold and should be replaced when the stock is renewed. Thereby a quick and accurate inventory of stock is promoted because the identifying number pertaining-to a particular belt appears to, the salesmans vision only once, either on the belt or at the bottom of its compartment, mistakes caused by diverting the eyes to find or compare locations are avoided, and he can instantly determine thestate. of his stock and what replacements are required.

Thus in Fig. 2 the belts and their holder compartments are shown as consecutively marked with the numbers 361 to 368 (although some of a range of numbers may be omitted, as in illustration) and a label 26 is removably placed in a frame on the front of the drawer 11 to show that said drawer is devoted to that range of belt numbers as shown in Fig. l. Ifhese numbers are placed on that edge of the belt which is to lie uppermost in the drawer, preferably on the sleeve or wrapper l3 enclosing the belt. The numbers designating the compartments are placed on labels 27 pasted on the upper face of the baseboard 14 at the bottom of each belt compartment.

Conveniently the number may be placed on the belt wrapper by a printed label 28, which may also bear a designation of the size and type of the belt corresponding to that number as indiet el n i and s ma b e e l re another label 29 pasted to the side of thewrapper and bearing a printed list of the makes and models of cars for which that size of belt is intended. In this way, the dealer and the customer will both have a check upon the correct selection ofthe particular belt desired.

These cabinets, with drawers having properly labeled belt-holding compartments and a correspondingstock of'belts, are designed to be furnished bythe belt manufacturer, whose experience teaches him the various sizes of belts required and the approximate relative demand which may be expected for the respective sizes in articular localities. Since certain sizes are mer i demand than the s a of t b rs in th drawer ma be'r p tedkth i1- lust etieu ske in wo a of h umbers 6. an 358 a on o ch 9 he e e umbe s: In this way the belt manufacturer, who has the necessary knowledge, can provide the dealer, who rare poss s s s ffi ent i mati t ee b e im p erl 9 entro his stee s; w th the minimum number of belts required to give complete service to customers, without overstocking, Ihe dealer has an automatic inventory at all times by merely referring to his cabinet, he or the belt manufacturers agent or jobber can easily and quickly replenish the stock as to required belt numbers at convenient intervals.

, Frem the f re ng t w l be a arent h I have provided a greatly improved merchandising t r-lee 7 fan el an other rti s mm furnished in a large variety of sizes. .While I v de cribed n efe ed mbocii ent. it wil b under tood tha mod fi a ions may be made, fea u es added e emit ed d h details w ly va ed Withe t eparti o the scope of h ntio as defin in the e ai s.

c aim 1;. A fan-belt merchandisi g unit comprising a receptacle accessible for vision from the top and including a plurality of compartments for holding the belts individually exposed to view from 1 2 the top, each compartment having on its bottom an indicium identifying the belt which belongs there and so located as to be concealed by the belt when the latter is in place and exposed to view when said belt is removed, together with 13G a series of fan belts each set edgewise in one of said compartments and each bearing on its top edge the same indicium as the compartment whic t oc upies.

A merchandising receptacle for articles such 1 35 as belts, said receptacle being accessible for isi n om he p a m ri in a rack. wh includes a plurality of individual compartments for holding the articles edgewise in an upright position, each compartment having an indicium 140 at thebottom thereof for identifying the article to be placed therein, said indicium being so located as to be concealed by the article when the latter is in place and exposed to view from the top when the article is removed.

3. Astock receptacle for articles such as fan belts, said receptacle comprising an outer container having therein'a rack of less width than said container and including a plurality of separators defining individual compartments for hold- 150 ing the articles edgewise and upright, each compartment having an indicium at the bottom thereof to identify the article held therein, so located as to be concealed by the article when the latter is in place and exposed to view from the top when the article is removed.

4. A stock receptacle for articles such as fan belts, comprising a cabinet drawer having front and rear walls and a metal sheet forming the bottom and side walls, a rack in said drawer composed of a base on the drawer bottom and wire separators of inverted U-shape having their ends fastened in the base, said separators defining individual compartments for holding the articles edgewise, each compartment having an indicium on the base for identifying the article which belongs in that compartment, so located as to be concealed by the article when the latter is in place and exposed to view from the top when the article is removed.

5. A fan-belt stock holder comprising a perforated baseboard transversely grooved underneath, a series of wire separators in the perforations defining belt compartments and having bent ends confined in the grooves, and additional means for retaining said ends in the grooves.

6. A stock drawer comprising front, rear and side walls, a metal plate forming the bottom wall, and an article holder in said drawer comprising a baseboard formed with transverse grooves in its lower face and metallic separators thereon each having its two lower ends confined in one of said grooves between and parallel with said baseboard and bottom plate.

MATTHEW E. HILL. 

